For many Israelis who define themselves as progressives, myself included, the friendship has come to resemble a rather abusive relationship. Israel is cast as the distant, idealized and embattled homeland whose role is not to cede any inch of territory and not to talk to the bad guys. No, we should send generation after generation to defend illegal settlements and to guard the very checkpoints that give rise to yet more frustration, anger and ultimately violence. Of course, Israelis are first and foremost responsible for solving our own problems. It is however not made any easier when our greatest ally and enabler encourages our most self-destructive instincts. A friend does not hand over the car keys to a drunken soul mate. A friend does not turn a blind eye to the folly and entanglement of endless settlement expansion. Periods of Jewish sovereignty and distant history begin to be self-inflicted wounds of homegrown zealots.
I guess it might look much the same to progressives in the US. Sure, one should support a safe and secure Israel, but why provide the cover for a 40 year plus occupation, the injustice of which resonates with a great passion and emotion throughout the Arab and Muslim world, providing succor to anti-Americanism and undermining US security?
That equation, that definition of friendship, is not working for either Israeli or American interests -- and as of today there is a new way to do something about it. Today saw the launching of J Street and the J Street PAC, dedicated to representing:
Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, as well as the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own -- two states living side-by-side in peace and security...[believing that] ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the best interests of Israel, the United States, the Palestinians, and the region as a whole.That means redefining pro-Israel and redefining the friendship. Yes, redefining, not ending. J Street is unashamedly pro-Israel and stands up for Israeli's right to security. In fact this is precisely what leads it to adopt the policy positions that can be read here, and include the call for hard-headed diplomatic engagement with Syria and Iran and for US leadership to finally achieve a two state solution, not just bloviate about it.
The supposed binary choice -- that one either has to be silent in the face of the ongoing occupation, settlements and conflict, or otherwise join the calls for a boycott of Israel or worse, is a false one. There is a need to reclaim a narrative that is both pro-Israel and pro-peace, pro-security and anti-occupation. An approach informed by tough-minded diplomacy, realism, non-kinetic problem solving and respect for human rights that applies to other conflicts can and should also be applied to the Israeli-Arab conflict and to broader issues in the Middle East.
The ability to have an open debate and to use one's critical thinking faculties should not be abandoned only when Israel is the subject at hand. A closed debate divorced from reality certainly does Israel no favors. And given Aaron Miller's truism, namely that the Israeli-American partnership is solid, there is really no need for the American Jewish community to seek allies in such murky waters as among the evangelical Zionist right and the neoconservatives whose policy prescriptions have been such a disaster. In fact it seems antithetical to Jewish values and to the history of American Jewish political struggles to indulge in such alliances--and it is certainly an affront to the liberal bent of that community.
J Street will build on the existing educational and advocacy efforts of groups like the Israel Policy Forum, Americans for Peace Now, and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, and will add an explicitly political dimension, endorsing or opposing candidates running for office. J Street aims to build a coalition of sanity on American Middle East policy that will embrace Jews and non-Jews alike.
According to the J Street logic, and it is a powerful one, if an American public elected official takes woefully irresponsible positions on the Middle East then there should be a price to pay; likewise if they do the right thing there should be a reward. I think the establishment of J Street is a fine thing, but this will be an effort not for Israelis, but Americans. Israelis who seek a future beyond occupation, undefined borders and conflict, and believe that America has a role in helping to realize that future, can support, encourage, and wish this effort well. Many Israelis have already done so in a letter of support, including former IDF chiefs of staff, former commanders of the Navy and of the Central Command, of Gaza and the West Bank, former ministers, diplomats, and leaders of civil society.
The hypothesis that the majority of Americans, including American Jews, support a more peaceful, stable and less angry Middle East, and that they eschew unilateral militarism and the resulting chaos wrought by the neocons, now has a political address. It is www.jstreet.org.
This piece is written in a personal capacity.
